Friday, January 23, 2015

This Week in Patterns (23-Jan-2015)

I'm posting this from my company's office in Irvine at the tail end of a whirlwind business trip for me. As someone who grew up in and spent most of my life in SoCal, it's been a brief trip down memory lane, as I've managed to squeeze in some In-n-Out, KROQ, and Green Flash's West Coast IPA in the 24 hours that I've been here. It's also in the mid-70's here, temperature-wise, and I'm finding that I really DON'T miss wearing short sleeves in January. In fact, if I still lived in SoCal, I wouldn't even be considering purchasing my favorite pattern this week. I'll be driving down to San Diego tonight to celebrate my mom's birthday with my family, then flying back to Seattle tomorrow, where I'm looking forward to being able to wear layers again.

We did have several high-profile pattern releases this week, let's take a look...

Grainline Studios - Cascade Duffle Coat

I think that I may have finally found my perfect "everyday" jacket/coat pattern for our weather here in the Pacific Northwest. If you heard a loud "squeeeeeeeeee!" earlier this week, you were probably hearing my reaction all the way from Seattle to Jen from Grainline Studio's latest release:

Unlike the somewhat similar Colette Albion duffle coat, the Grainline version is drafted for a woman, rather than having a unisex draft, includes a zipper closure beneath the toggles, and has both collar and hood options. I'm seriously planning four different versions of this pattern in my head from fabric in my stash by mixing up the jacket/coat and hood/collar options. On one hand, I don't want to dive right into another involved/coat project after just finishing my Simplicity 1254/Leanne Marshall coat, on the other hand, I want this coat.

I've already ordered this pattern (paper version, since I prefer PDFs only for less complicated patterns) and am thinking that I'll finally make my rain jacket using it. I have some of that Marc Jacobs waterproof poplin in my stash that FabricMart had a while back and stumbled unintentionally into a perfect lining for that fabric with another purchase.

Grainline Studios Cascade Duffle coat and jacket

Vogue - Early Spring 2015 (aka "Culottes for Everyone!")

Remember when those knit gaucho pants were all the rage about ten years ago? Vogue (and a few other pattern designers) have apparently decided that that silhouette is back. I haven't seen these pop up on the street in real life yet, but I'm guessing that we'll start to see them this spring.

In other news related to this release, Vogue's patterns this time around included a lot of interesting details. Now, whether the patterns themselves or not for you is up to you. From what I've seen online since the collection was released, most of these individual designs are either love-it or hate-it. And while most of these aren't my aesthetic, I do highly appreciate Vogue putting out a very "not boring" collection. Honestly, I could comment on most of the designs in this particular release, but in the interest of time and space, I just pulled out a few of the most interesting ones (for better or for worse).

I love the back detail on this Tom and Linda Platt jacket. The sheath dress is the same old boring sheath dress that we've seen a million times, so I'd expect most people would be buying this for the jacket. I won't be buying it, though, because I think that that cropped, drapey shape in front would look terrible on my ginormous bust, regardless of how much I like the jacket back.

I was surprised when I clicked the link to this jacket to see that it wasn't a designer pattern. Again, not my personal aesthetic to make/wear, but I do appreciate the design and look forward to seeing this pattern made up by others in the online sewing community.

I can't believe that I'm going to type this about a culotte-jumpsuit, but, um, I actually really like this? And I could see myself making/wearing it? It's got the silhouette of those princess seamed bodice fit-and-flare dresses that work so well for so many of us, but with a really full, skirt-like set of pants. And it has sleeves, unlike so many jumpsuit patterns!

Don't get me wrong--I realize that there's a ton of potential for bad-elementary-school-teacher-wardrobe here with this pattern, but I think that in the right fabric, this could be really cute and practical.

Annnnnd my pick for unintentional comedy pattern of this release goes to this oh-so-70's dress that looks like it came straight out of an unopened box found at an Gunne Sax warehouse. This dress looks like something that Sissy Spacek would sport as Carrie, if Piper Laurie weren't yelling at her to not draw so much attention to her dirty pillows.

Pauline Alice Eliana Dress

The raglan-sleeved version is cute, simple, and I'm sure easy-to-sew. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure that there are similar patterns to this floating around out there among the Big 4--it's essentially a dress version of a peasant blouse.

Pauline Alice Eliana Dress

Final Thoughts

As I said, I absolutely love the new Grainline jacket and coat pattern and have already ordered it. Of the new Vogues, the two that I am most likely to add to my stash (and who knows, maybe make at some point) are V9075 (the culotte jumpsuit) and V9086 (the blouse with the hidden placket/scooped neckline).

10 comments:

The Cascade coat is on it's way to me as we speak!!!!! And uhmm yeah, the more I looked at that jumpsuit the more I decided that it NEEDS to be made in a large-ish scale floral. Preferably bright colors on a black background. I was thinking rayon challis but now I'm kind of thinking cotton sateen for crispness on the culottes. Ahhhhh. :)

Your comments about the jumpsuit in a floral print reminds me of an outfit on Mad Men a few seasons back. Don is at a party in California, and the hostess is wearing a flowing pant suit/jumpsuit in a bold yellow floral. Given the way she was framed in the scenes, I can't tell if its 1 or 2 pieces.

I really like that print! And good call, I think, on using something with more body like a sateen. I'm with you that I think this design is screaming out for a floral. I was also initially thinking rayon challis, but I made that pair of rayon challis pants over the summer, and they bag out terribly after a few hours of wear. I think that the pant part of the jumpsuit needs a fabric with a little more body (like the fabrics that they actually recommend for the pattern). GorgeousFabrics has a few pretty ones up on their site: http://gorgeousfabrics.com/shop/cotton/lovely-floral-stretch-sateen-bluesgreenswhite/

and http://gorgeousfabrics.com/shop/cotton/soft-floral-cotton-sateen-coralsgreenspurples-on-navy/

IMO, the styling & color choice on V9091 are both awful. I like the idea of palazzo pants, but I don't think I can get on board with white culottes, even if spring is just around the corner. Love the Grainline coat, and will likely make it for fall.